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So here is the update of my salvage - success.
The seed that had the hot water scrub did no better or worse than the ones that were dipped in alcohol. Overall I got a very nice harvest of porcelains both Music and Argentina with biggest bulbs 2 1/2 inches across . There is some superficial damage on virtually all the bulbs, either by mites or by wireworms I think , but I think I will be able to strip most of them down to a clean wrapper when they've cured a bit, and have lots of good seed stock and garlic to eat. It is obvious, whatever the damage is, that it started late in the season and hadn't progressed far before they were pulled.

That is great harvest bower! It is good news you did not loose your seed stock last year. Are you going to treat the cloves this year just as a precaution?

Last year I had a lot of onion fly maggots eating the garlic and onions, so last fall I moved my planting to a new field. So far this season, there seems to be no maggots in the garlic on that field, but the clay soil is not good for growth and makes harvesting difficult.

Sari

__________________"I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream."
- Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson

Thanks all!
@ sari, yes, I think the alcohol dip is going to be routine from now on. We did it at the farm as well, and it's not a huge amount of trouble for a small guarantee against tiny pests. For myself, the big jar of old tincture I used has been set aside and labeled for the garlic dipping purpose, so it won't be an expense.
I'll be taking a closer look for any tiny pests when these have cured a bit. What I saw on the outside were some rusty colored spots and in a couple of cases bigger bites that could easily be the start of wireworm damage as I found on my softneck in the same bed. Since I don't see any actual mites this time I took another google search and it looks like the rusty brown color could be Fusarium spores, so I'll be reading up about that too. Maybe fusarium is the first microbe to arrive when the garlic is bitten, no matter who bites it. I just want to be knowledgeable about every pest or problem I can have, and keep my precious garlic stock in the best shape possible.
@oakley I think you're right that garlic is one of those things often seized at the border. There are a number of seed garlic suppliers across Canada as I've seen online, but none in the province. I think you have to watch closely and place an order as soon as stock becomes available because they do sell out quickly. Back in the days before internet, we just didn't have access to garlic stock at all. But nowadays garlic is being grown by more people, and as I mentioned, I even have one strain that came from Bonavista rounds. So local garlic could be used for seed when it turns up in the farmer's market.
My Music stock I grew up from bulbils I got from a local grower's scapes. He's been growing and maintaining this strain for well over a decade, maybe two, and they live in an area that is low lying and moist so I value his advice as much as I do his garlic! I have another crop of these coming up from the bulbils so I should have enough to share with you in a couple of years if all goes well. The Argentina was a windfall of leftover cracked and soaked seed garlic after helping to plant at the farm. It originally came from Nova Scotia not from a commercial source but as a gift from a friend. Other seed stocks from the farm either as scapes/bulbils or leftover cloves were purchased a few years ago from a farm in Nova Scotia - will see if I can remember the name or find them online. And I have others growing up from bulbils I got through Nicky's pan-Canadian swap.

Here's how: harvest them at full size without curing. Pickle them whole. Peel the outer layers off, leave the tender inner layers on.

Submerge them in a salt brine, 2-5 % salt depending on your preference. Just like you would ferment everything else. When ready in a few weeks, add some soy sauce and brown sugar, to taste, until well-colored up, then Eat!

Here's how: harvest them at full size without curing. Pickle them whole. Peel the outer layers off, leave the tender inner layers on.

Submerge them in a salt brine, 2-5 % salt depending on your preference. Just like you would ferment everything else. When ready in a few weeks, add some soy sauce and brown sugar, to taste, until well-colored up, then Eat!

They are a lot milder in taste, but still crisp and delicious.

Interesting use of the 'earlies'. I picked some early just to see what was up they looked
so good. (not full size like you suggested). But I was about to travel and did that for
crossing the Canadian border. (Cloves in brine are fine.)

So, to get this correct, the planted bulbils, year two, (that I have), and about to pull,
are called 'rounds'?. Not unlike a nice green onion but more of a small bulb forming at
the root end...
Plant again in the Fall. That would be year three. Yet true seed garlic should produce
year one?

What about a long ago garlic bed left alone for 5 yrs, like I did, that has about five dozen
small scape heads screaming for attention?....heads full of bulbils.
I'll dig up and see whats underground?

Yep... planted bulbils produce rounds - I call that year 1.
Plant the rounds in the fall, they will produce (mostly) small divided bulbs in year two.
Plant the cloves, and get a larger bulb in year three.
The Music I grew up could be considered full size in year 4, although some are bigger yet in this year 5.